Rule 12
by watty94
Summary: The team investigate the murder of a chief petty officer with the main suspect being her secret lover. Meanwhile, Tony asks McGee for help and Gibbs notices things between two of his team members. TIVA
1. A manly talk

**A manly talk.**

**(Tony's POV)**

_I hate doing this, I can't believe I'm about to ask the probie for help. There must be some sort of other way to do this. _These were the thoughts running through my head as I slowly entered the crew room. _ Nope I'm going to have to do it this way. Great, let's just hope he won't suspect anything. Oh well here goes nothing._

Walking slowly up to probie I kept thinking up possibilities and instantly dismissing them- they were all things I had thought of before. I really had exhausted everything before it boiled down to this point. I was about to ask probie something that I hoped he would help me with. Otherwise I might just have to leave and join another crew. That would be after I'd convinced him not to say anything, and I meant anything, of course. To be honest with myself I couldn't believe it had taken me this long to think of asking him. I mean he was a bit of a whiz with his brain and I expected him to be able to come up with a simple solution to my problem fairly quickly.

"Tony?" came the question from in front of me.

Looking up I realised I had come to McGee's desk a bit too quickly for my liking. Slowly sighing I started to sink back in to my thoughts quickly looking for any other possible way to do this.

Nope, still none.

"Hey probie," I said in reply.

"You alright? You look a bit lost,"

"No, no. I'm fine" _Well here it goes. _"Looking for your help actually."

At that probie started a bit before carefully looking around him. I kept looking at the really interesting bit of plastic in front of me. If I squinted a bit the lines formed a pattern, a familiar one. _Damn it. _I was doing it again. Why couldn't I get her off my mind? Even for a minute.

"Okay." That made me jump. Looking around wildly I realised that I hadn't just imagined myself asking probie for help and that was his answer.

"You'll do it? Brilliant." I was grinning like a maniac at this point.

"On one condition." _Great, what would that be?_

"Name it."

"Stop calling me probie."

"Anything but that?"

"Tell me everything, and I mean everything, to do with this."

"Sure" _I could always get out of it later couldn't I? _

"What do you need?"

"I need you to look in to one of Gibbs' rules."

"You're joking right? One of his rules! Which one?"

"Rule 12." _Well that was a risk. I seriously can't believe I just told McGee I want him to see how I could date a co-worker. _Standing there I realised I knew exactly what the next question would be. Sure enough…

"Who?"

"Not important."

"You have to tell me why or I won't help you. You agreed remember?"

Thinking back I saw I had indeed said I would tell him anything related to this stupid request. Gibbs' rules are probably as impossible to fool as the man himself. Foolishly I told McGee who it was that I needed his help to get. Not that she wouldn't fall for the DiNozzo charm of course. She would fall for it just the same as any other woman. Only she wasn't any other woman.

"Ziva, McGee. Now just tell me if you think you can do it."

"You called me McGee?"

"Well it is your name isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

"Good. And I took your first request into some serious consideration okay? Now tell me if you think you can do it."

"Ziva? You do realise she is probably the least likely person to ever fall for you."

"She won't manage to resist the DiNozzo charm, don't you worry. Just find me a loophole." I was already turning to go as I said this. I had plenty of other things to worry about. Like why I had just told probie I was crushing on Ziva for instance.

"This is Ziva we're talking about right? As in Ziva, the woman who has worked with men forever and is in no way intimidated by you, let alone going to fall for you?"

_Like he knows what he's talking about. _"Just find me that loophole McGee." I was by the elevator at this point.

"I'll try, but I'm making no promises."

Snorting, I stepped inside the elevator wanting to take a trip down to Abby's. Looking back through the conversation in my head I realised I had forgotten to tell McGee something important. Like the fact that no-one was to know. Swearing under my breath I threw myself at the control panel meaning to open the doors before we moved off.

"Someone is in a hurry to get somewhere," came a voice from behind me. Looking round I realised that I wasn't alone. In fact I was in an elevator with the last person that I wanted to see right now. Ziva David. The bane of my very existence.

"Not at all. Just realised that I have forgotten to tell something important to McGee."

"Well we're moving now. It can wait."

_Not really, _I thought. Glancing up from my shoes I realised that Ziva was still looking at me with a puzzled look on her face. _What now._

"You called him McGee?"

"He asked me to."

"Do I want to know why you agreed?"

"No" w_ell that was the end of that conversation._

"Tell me." _Or not. _

Just then the elevator binged that it had reached a new floor. Abby's lab. I stood waiting for Ziva to get off as I knew I had to go back and talk to McGee. There was no way I was going up the stairs after all. Slowly I waited as Ziva went past purposely brushing against my shoulder. If she only knew how that made me feel. I watched her retreating back as her clothing flattered her body. Mentally I shook myself; this was not the way to be thinking Tony. Slowly pressing the button to go back up to the crew room I mentally prepared myself for what was sure to be an onslaught of questions from McGee. I just needed to say one thing to him and that was all I would say I told myself. Exiting the elevator I saw the very man I was looking for just sitting back down at his desk. Unprepared to make this last any longer than it needed to I rushed towards him.

"McGee don't tell anyone about earlier."

"Does anyone include Abby?"

"You didn't."

"I sort of enlisted her help."

_What a great start to the day._


	2. A girly chat

****Disclaimer: I own nothing, don't sue.

**A girly chat.**

Ziva's POV

_Well, that was unusual. _I thought as I walked slowly into Abby's lab. Although I was deep in thought I couldn't fail to notice the strange look my back was getting as I exited the elevator. Yes, I often get things wrong but I'm sure there was something different about Tony today. He seemed a bit nicer almost and more mature too. Perhaps he is finally growing up. I couldn't help but see his face everytime I closed my eyes. He intrigued me in some way. And I definitely couldn't get him out of my head. That hadn't been possible for a long time.

"Ziva, Ziva, Ziva!" came an excited voice which jerked me right out of my thoughts. It was Abby launching herself at me with her trademark Caf-Pow in her hands. I had never quite understood her addiction to this drink. I stopped thinking about the elevator encounter long enough to smile back weakly at her.

"Hey Abby," was my reply.

"Have you brought me my evidence?"

"Not today Abby, we are not working on a case at the moment. Though there will probably be one when I go back to the crew room."

"I thought it was a bit early on a Monday morning to already have a case and evidence. Why are you here then?"

"I just thought that we could talk to each other. I do not think we have spoken for quite a long time."

"Oh, you want to catch up. Sure thing."

Catch up? That was another American phrase that I had not yet understood. Not that I was going to say I didn't understand of course. It was not as if I wanted it to get back to Tony that I was still getting English confused. Maybe he should try speaking 10 languages instead of fooling around and constantly teasing McGee. That was another strange thing. Since when did Tony call McGee McGee? Something was definitely wrong with him; he was definitely not behaving as his normal self. Oh how I would love to be able to look into his mind for just a day, and I had many reasons for wanting to do that.

Coming slowly out of my thoughts I realised that Abby was still standing, looking at me expectantly. I opened my mouth to tell her that I would talk to her later but before I could form the words in my mouth she spoke.

"I know what this is about," she said with a knowing look on her face.

Choosing my words carefully I replied, "What is this about?" I was panicking slightly inside but not enough to show.

"You want to talk to me about men."

"No. I just wanted to talk. What did you call it? A catch up?" I spoke slowly, enunciating my words in order to hide what I was thinking about inside. _She couldn't know. Could she? I thought that no-one could tell. I've always been good at hiding my emotions. It comes from my Mossad training. _

"Ooh oh oh! Did you know that McGee needs my help for something?"

"What for this time? He is always needing your help."

"This time it is a bit of a weird request. Apparently Tony asked him for help." _Could this day get any weirder?_

"He did what?"

"That's what I thought. Apparently he needs help to get past one of Gibbs' rules."

"Is that even possible?" I had always thought that Gibbs' rules were a lot like the man himself; impossible to get anything past. What on earth could possess Tony to try to get past one of them?

"You haven't even heard the best of it yet. Guess which rule," I hate it when she does that. There is no way that I could guess.

"I do not know. Rule 34?"

"Nope. Rule 12." _Yes, today could get weirder._

"Is that not the..."

"...Never date a co-worker rule. Yes it is."

"Who does he want to date?"

"I don't know. Tim wouldn't tell me. He said that Tony would crucify him if he ever found out."

That was it. I had to find out what was going on with Tony and why he was being so secretive. Although I should probably try not to talk to him that much anymore if he is trying to get past rule 12. It means that he has found somebody else, and that somebody was not going to be me. Why would it? But I was happy for him and I hoped that he would be serious with this girl just like he had been with Jeanne and not just sleep with her and dump her. But I needed not to talk to him for a while. I needed to give myself time to get over him and that is a hard thing to do when I spend every day around him and when I am not around him he is still in my thoughts.

Abby spoke dragging my thoughts back to the present, "Are you alright Ziva? You look a bit pale. Do you want to sit down? Or go see Ducky?"

"No, no. I am fine. You just shocked me a bit. That is all." _I hope she does not work out why I look so pale._

"So, who do you think it is?"

"I do not know. It could be anyone. Or it could be no one. What do you think?"

"It could be no one? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, could Tony not be making a joke? He could be trying to get us interested and make us think that he is after a girl when he is not."

"I think he's being serious this time. Tim said he was behaving very strangely. I think it's cute that he likes someone. I bet it is you!" _Please don't say that Abby. I do not want to get my hopes up._

"It could hardly be me. We are work partners. And we are also at each other's necks a lot of the time."

"Throats, you're at each other's throats. I think it would be sweet if it was you two. You would make a good couple. But I think this time it could be serious, he really wants to make this work as a relationship."

"I do not think so. What is it you say? A leopard never changes his stripes?"

"Close enough. It's spots. And I think that this time maybe he has. Do you like him back?"

"We are partners Abby. Nothing else." _Please be quiet Abby. I do not want to think about this. _I was slowly turning to go at this point. Abby was making this conversation far too much about me rather than about her. I did not want to talk about the ins and outs of my life, especially my life if it involved Tony.

"That did not answer my question!" She was being really persistent. Instead of answering I pretended I hadn't heard and carried on walking to the elevator, passing Gibbs as I did so.

**Smack.**

That was his hand colliding with my head. I had no idea what I had done this time but I just kept walking. I knew better than to ask him. In any case, he answered my unspoken question.

"Answer Abby when she asks you a question."

"Yes boss," was my reply whilst I was rubbing the back of my head wincing. That was a hard one. Suddenly Abby piped up from in front of her computer.

"It's okay Gibbs; her lack of answer actually answered my question." _Did it? Damn. _I had hoped I was not being that obvious but apparently I was.

"David. Crew room. I'll be up there in a minute." _We have a case already? It better be a good one._

"Yes boss."

Silently I stepped into the elevator and rode it back up to the crew room. I couldn't help but let my mind dwell on what I had just spoken about with Abby. I was really interested in finding out who it was that Tony liked. As the elevator reached my floor I stepped out wanting to interrogate him as soon as possible. As I was not looking where I was going I nearly walked into several desks on the way to mine. Remembering the time I had fallen off of my chair I paid more attention to my surroundings so that it did not happen again. Sitting down I rubbed my head again. The slap had really hurt. Looking up I saw that Tony had noticed my discomfort and was smiling at it. I gave him my best glare and turned my attention to where I knew Gibbs was soon to appear.

_I had better get to the bottom of this._


	3. The case

**Nope, still don't own NCIS. Also this may be a good time to point out that I am English so have no idea how the American navy works or anything like that. I am also a series behind on NCIS. I appreciate constructive criticism and will take any comments into account. Enjoy!**

**The case.**

**Tony's POV**

Sighing softly to myself I watched as Ziva walked slowly into the bullpen. The way she was rubbing the back of her head made me chuckle softly to myself as I realised she must have bumped into Gibbs on the way up. I was just about to go over and talk to her when I realised where she had just been.

_Shit._

I hoped against hope that Abby hadn't said anything to her. Although this being Abby made it very unlikely as everyone knew that Abby was not very good at keeping secrets. Instead of continuing my route to her desk opposite mine I changed direction to walk over to McGee's desk. I needed to know exactly what he had told Abby. Hopefully he hadn't told her who it was but I wasn't so sure that this would actually be the case. If he had told Abby everything that I had told him I may as well leave now and get as far as way as possible before Ziva kills me.

"What did you tell Abby?" I growled in as menacing a voice as I could manage, acutely aware of Ziva's eyes following me.

Swallowing slightly McGee raised his eyes to meet mine before replying in a voice even quieter voice than mine, "I didn't tell her who don't worry DiNosy although I could if you don't keep to your side of the bargain. I still have more I want to know."

Satisfied with this answer I gave him one of my famous DiNozzo stares before turning to walk back to my desk, "Let's keep it that way McGeek."

I could feel Ziva's eyes on me as I made my way back to my desk and I knew then that Abby had indeed repeated everything to her that McGee had said. As long as he was being honest when he said he didn't tell her it was Ziva I needed the rule broken for I knew I would live, but I had no way of knowing if he was. The first I would know of him telling Abby that I liked Ziva would be the split second I would have between her starting to kill me and her killing me. Not something I was particularly looking forward to happening if I was honest with myself.

Trying to avoid her gaze I sat down on my chair and started making a dent in the pile of paperwork in front of me. I was very aware of the hole her eyes were burning in the top of my head as I stared resolutely down at the file in front of me. Just as it was getting too much Gibbs walked in, saving me like always.

"Dead Petty officer. Let's go."

As always we headed to our desks and grabbed our gear before all making our way towards the elevator. I was slightly behind the others due to being slightly out of it when Gibbs called us but I wasn't complaining. I honestly had no idea why I hadn't walked behind the others before. The view was amazing! Quickening my pace I remembered why I didn't like to hang back. The others were already inside the elevator and I could see the doors closing.

_Made it_

Panting like a mad man who had just run a marathon I glared at the others daring them to laugh. I could see a small smirk forming on McGee's face and Ziva's shoulders were shaking. Hell, even Gibbs was trying to hold back a smile. Sighing to myself I realised that this was probably going to be a long day- we hadn't even made it to the crime scene yet.

Making it down to the car park I noticed that I hadn't seen the keys yet which could only mean one thing- Ziva was driving both me and her to the crime scene. She's like a woman possessed when driving and my sprint to the elevator earlier obviously hadn't done me any favours. One, I had already been laughed at by my team, and two, Ziva was about to kill me whilst driving. I dragged my heels in order to savour every last moment of my life which was about to be cut short but I couldn't avoid the car forever. I also received a Gibbs slap for my troubles.

"Stop stalling DiNozzo. Get in the car."

I hurried towards the car whilst rubbing my head and grumbling under my breath. Hoping against hope I would actually make it alive and in one piece I turned to Ziva who was sitting, staring out the window looking rather bored.

"Do you think you could sit down so that we can drive to the scene?"

"Yes, yes. I'm coming."

"Good."

Driving the way only Ziva can we arrived at the scene to find Gibbs and McGee already there.

"About time you two turned up. DiNozzo photographs, David bag and tag, McGee, with me." _Ha _I thought to myself _that means I get the camera. Time for a few sneaky shots._ Grabbing the camera from the back of Gibbs' car I followed the others towards the body. Turning around I noticed that Ziva was yet to move from her spot by the car.

"Coming Ziva? Or were you just planning on standing there all day?"

"Huh, oh Tony, yes I am coming" and with that she grabbed her stuff and caught up with me. Together we walked towards our victim- a young petty officer. She was in her uniform still which was a little bit odd and from what I could see not bad looking. Lifting the camera from where it was placed around my neck I started snapping photos of just about everything.

'_Flash'_ That's her face for identification.

'_Flash' _Followed by her wound from all sides.

'_Flash, Flash, Flash_' I kept snapping photos until I spotted my perfect opportunity.

'_Flash' _Checking the screen I realised I had the perfect image for any possible blackmail of Ziva. I managed to get her right in the face just as she looked up and the look of shock and anger on her face was just too much for me to handle. I started chuckling under my breath. Eventually, after Ziva had finished threatening to kill me with anything and everything, I convinced her to look at the photo. To my complete and utter surprise she couldn't stop the smile that spread on to her face and soon that turned into a little laugh. _God how I love that laugh. _

Soon we were both laughing a lot harder than the situation warranted- the picture wasn't that funny. Ziva was starting to bend over and I knew that she was just about to lose it. I managed to stop chuckling for long enough to creep up behind her and she jumped about a foot in the air. She was ready for me this time though and the next thing I knew was being flat on my back with Ziva pinning me to the floor. She was close enough for me to smell her shampoo and I really did not want her to move. Not that she was attempting to get off anyway.

_Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all._


	4. Jane Doe

******Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue**

**Jane Doe**

**Ziva's POV**

_Aargh that man is so annoying _I thought to myself. Despite Tony's constant assurances that scene badtakes are erased when cases are closed I was not so certain. And the photo he had shown me was definitely a bad one, though very humorous I must admit. It was unlikely that Tony would get rid of what he called 'perfect photos' and I was well aware of the number that he has taken of me when he is meant to be picturing the crime scene and victim.

Once he had snuck up behind me and I had thrown him to the floor I laid on top of him for a little while longer than I needed to so that I could hopefully warn him against taking anymore photos. He completely ignored this warning though and the camera carried on going off whilst I methodically bagged and tagged everything that I could see.

'_Flash' _

The constant flash of the camera in my eyes was getting very annoying now. _One more time _I told myself almost begging him to do it again so I could pain him. _One more time and that will be it. I will break._

'_Flash'_

That was it. I was not going to take this anymore. I turned around aiming to grab his arm and twist it behind his back. Unfortunately, as I took a step towards him I tripped over something which made me fall straight towards the ground. Fortunately, before I could reach it however, a strong pair of arms engulfed me, preventing my face from smashing into the floor. Unfortunately, my weight was obviously too much for those arms to handle and we both hit the floor with a thud.

"Ooooof, Ziva you're squashing me."

"Are you in pain?" If he was then this was a far better way of inflicting pain than what I was originally planning to do. Looking down I realised that Tony was still looking up at me as if he was expecting something. "Yes," I asked, smiling a little.

"Aren't you going to move?" This was said in a very expectant way with his signature DiNozzo grin firmly in place.

"I was not planning on it," His smile faltered when I said this, before it reappeared, brighter than before.

"So you enjoy lying on me then?" I paused, considering my response.

"I am quite comfy thank you, yes."

"For you, maybe. Now please move."

"Only if you promise not to whitemail me with that photo," As soon as the words left my mouth I knew that I had made a mistake. The smirk on Tony's face only confirmed my fears.

"Blackmail Ziva, it's blackmail. And I wouldn't dream of doing that. You are a crazy ninja assassin remember." I was not sure whether I was meant to be pleased at that comment or not as Tony had again managed to confuse me by correcting my English and giving me something that could almost be considered a compliment. I was not sure that he would not use the picture however but this time I decided to give him the benefit of doubt. If he did use it then it would be the perfect opportunity for me to practise my 'crazy ninja' skills for betraying my trust.

"Fine. I believe you. But you better not use that picture," I told him.

"Oh don't you worry Zee-vah. I won't use **that** picture," he said, drawing out my name in the way he knew annoyed me, with a ghost of a smile on his face.

Satisfied, I moved off of him and reached out my hand to pull him up. As I did so Gibbs walked into sight with Ducky behind him and I pulled Tony a little harder in order to make him move because Gibbs would not look kindly at us not working. Unluckily we had already caught Gibbs' attention and he was giving us a strange look.

"David, DiNozzo, no grab-ass at work."

"Oh hi boss. We were uh just looking at uh something Ziva found," Tony mumbled while looking at the ground. I gave his head the best glare I could manage for trying to make me sound like the one to blame.

"Not what it looked like to me DiNozzo. Now you go and help McGee with those interviews. David carry on. Ducky what can you tell me about our victim?"

Nodding my head I dutifully carried on with my task while at the same time keeping an ear open to hear what Ducky could tell us about our mystery victim. There was no form of identification on her and we could only tell her rank by the uniform she wore. Bending over to pick up a strand of hair that I had noticed on the victim's shirt I heard Ducky begin his analysis.

"Well Jethro, at first glance it appears that our young vic was stabbed multiple times and simply bled to death. However, looking at her head it tells a different story," He said while rolling the victim on to her side, "Just what I thought. If you look here there is a large depression which appears to have been caused by a heavy blow to the head. If I am correct then I think this poor women died of a severe head trauma before the stab wounds were administered. Did you know, this reminds me of a time when I was working at a hospital in…"

"Thanks Duck. Time of death?" came Gibbs' fast reply, he needed to ask that quickly before Ducky got too carried away.

"At this stage I can only give you a rough estimate but I would say that she died between 4 and 6 hours ago, in the early hours of the morning. Judging by her breath I would also suggest that she has had a lot to drink in the last 12 hours which suggests a night out."

"A drunken fight then taken too far then?" Gibbs asked.

"Maybe, but these marks on her neck and the state of her clothes suggest that there may be more to it than that. The killer is probably someone that she knows quite well."

I too had noticed some of these things that Ducky had said while bagging and tagging and his comments further strengthened my opinion. Risking a glance up from my task I noticed a scrap of paper next to our victim. Hoping that this was some form of identification I quickly reached over and picked it up. Turning it over to read it I realised that this was not identification, but it could be a crucial piece of evidence to help find our killer.

"Gibbs, you should look at this," I called him over so that he could decide what should be done about it.

"What is it?" He did not sound very happy as he made his way over to me. _This is unusual _I thought _I cannot think of anything that I have done to annoy him, yes I was lying on Tony earlier but that was a complete accident and there was no meaning behind it._ I was very confused now and did not know what I could possibly have done to make him angry with me. Hoping it was nothing I showed him the piece of paper I had found.

"If I can't have you, no one can. Where was this?"

"Under our victim, I only saw it when Ducky rolled her over."

"Right. Grab the other two and you can head back to base. Go straight down and hand this to Abby, I want fingerprints."

"Yes boss."

"What are you waiting for? Go."

I quickly headed off in the direction of the cars where I could see McGee and Tony waiting for us. They looked like they had been standing there a while. I couldn't help but think of Gibbs as I walked towards them. He sounded very angry with me and I had absolutely no idea what I had done. I would love to be able to look into his head sometimes. He was never normally that short with me.

"Penny for your thoughts?" came the voice of one Tony DiNozzo. Looking up I realised that I had made it to the cars and was being spoken to.

"Penny for my thoughts? Why would you want to buy my thoughts? Why would I want to sell them to anyone?"

"No, that's not the point. What I meant was, actually never mind," Tony finished leaving me even more confused than I was already.

_I really need to learn this English language_


	5. Autopsy

**Thanks for all your support so far guys! Still don't own it unfortunately. **

**Autopsy**

**Tony's POV**

Thankfully I had managed to arrive back at base in one piece. Together me and McGee tumbled out of the car holding our stomachs. Even after several years we had still not gotten used to Ziva's driving skills although that may have something to do with the fact that we never let her drive us anywhere in fear of our lives. To be completely honest with myself I loved winding her up and not letting her drive was one of the ways that I did this. The look of anger she gave me whenever I succeeded in annoying were was amazing, so of course I wanted to see it over and over again. When she had come over after speaking with Gibbs and I saw that look in her eyes however, I realised that she would probably not appreciate me insisting I drive so I let it be and called shotgun over McGee. The fact that there was no questioning look from her showed me that I was right not to start an argument with her as she was preoccupied elsewhere. As McStomach rushed off when we arrived, presumably to empty his stomach, I hung back so as to speak to her as she left the car.

Unsure how to broach the subject I cautiously approached her in case she decided that there were some ninja moves that needed sharpening up. In a hope that she wouldn't assume I had ulterior motives I decided to do my normal, say something completely unrelated.

"Wow Ziva. Driving hasn't improved then?" _Way to put your foot in it DiNozzo._

"As I am sure I have told you before, my driving is fine. We get from A to B without crashing and we do it a lot faster than we would have done if you were driving," she said giving me the briefest of looks. _Weird. _I was expecting at least a glare. Deciding I obviously had a death wish I asked the question that I knew would at least get me a glare, probably more.

"You alright Zee-vah? You seem a little bit away with the fairies,"

"I am fine Tony."

"If you say so," I said, obviously unsure, "What did Gibbs want anyway?"

"He has told me that I need to get this note to Abby as quickly as possible."

"Was that all? He behaved as if he hadn't had any coffee," there was definitely something she wasn't telling me.

"Yes," Ziva snapped, "and if you want to live I suggest you stop asking questions." Pushing past me she made her way into the building. If I ignored the way her body rubbed against me when she pushed past I could tell that she was upset. And pissed. Whether this was because of me or Gibbs I did not know. But I intended to find out. But first I needed to give her some time to cool down or she would carry out her threat. Instead of following her towards Abby's lab I headed towards my desk. As I neared it my phone rang commanding me to head towards autopsy. With nothing better to do and wanting to know more I led McGee down there.

Whilst we were travelling in the elevator I decided that I would use the time wisely and find out how far along McGenius was with the little task I set him.

"Hey McGoo, how you doing with that little, aah, challenge I set you?" I asked, hoping that he wouldn't ask me any more probing questions.

"You mean the next to impossible one that you have given me very little information on," was his blunt response.

"I have given you more than I was ever going to tell you! And it can't be impossible, you'll work it out. Especially now you have Abby working with you," I replied with feigned indignation. It was a **very **hard task true but I wasn't about to admit that.

"No more impossible than your task is anyway. I mean, all I have to do is find a way past our omniscient boss and one of his rules. You however have to try and convince Ziva that you're the man for her? Now that is an impossible task," he retorted.

"Couldn't resist trying to get a little dig in could you McShovel? But don't you worry; I don't need to convince her. She's already mine." Lie. Hopefully he wouldn't notice. Before he had a chance to respond to that bluff of mine however, the elevator doors opened and I quickly made my exit aware of the bemused look on his face. As we both walked into Autopsy I could hear Ducky telling some tale or other to Palmer like normal. I cleared my throat to get his attention so that we didn't have to sit through another of his stories.

"Ah, Jethro, I was just telling Mr Palmer about the time I was in Ireland," he started turning round, "oh sorry Anthony, I thought you were Jethro."

"No problem Ducky. What have you got for us?" I asked, though my mind was most definitely elsewhere.

"Well it is as I thought. Cause of death was head trauma caused by a blunt instrument. The stab wounds that you can see on her torso were post mortem but the one on her arm just here was definitely administered before she died. It would seem to me the wound on her arm was most likely from her defending herself before the fatal blow was delivered. It is entirely possible that she fell and struck her head on something although I do not remember seeing anything near the crime scene. Did you?"

"Not that I can remember Ducky. Have we got an ID yet?"McGee asked, breaking my trail of thought. I was only half listening to Ducky and was completely unaware that he had asked a question.

"I asked Abby to run her DNA when we got back and she gave me the name Mary Seaford, Chief Petty Officer. That's all I can give you at the moment but I'm sure you will be able to run a few more checks. Are you alright Anthony? You seem a little bit out of it."

"I'm perfectly fine thanks Ducky. If that's all you've got I'm going to pay Abby a quick visit. Ziva found a note at the crime scene and I want to see if she's processed it yet." _And find out what on earth is wrong with Ziva _I added silently in my head.

"Right, off you go then. Now Mr Palmer where was I?" I could hear his voice getting quieter and quieter as we left. Making my way to Abby's so as to not waste any more time before I could talk to Ziva I could feel McGee giving me that look again.

"What McGee?" I snapped, just wanting to be on my way.

"Nothing. I was just on my way to do some more research into Mary Seaford. I trust you and Ziva'll be up soon?"

"Yup, we won't be too long. Ziva may already be there anyway. She was only dropping that note off," I added even though I didn't want this to be the case.

"See you then. Hopefully Gibbs will have had his coffee by then." _Huh?_ Even McGee had noticed something off with Gibbs. Something must be really off with me today. _Or you're too busy dwelling on your moment of insanity earlier _a little voice in my head counteracted. Making my way to Abby's however, there was only one thing on my mind, and it wasn't my moment of insanity.

_How on earth am I going to survive this?_


	6. Abby's lab

**Happy news people! I've updated! And I would apologise to you all but it's a sign of weakness so I'm just going to say I've been really busy with revision and exams, not to mention looking at universities. Also, thankyou to those people who have reviewed it makes me smile :D  
>Disclaimer: I still don't own the characters, just borrowing them.<strong>

**Abby's lab**

**Ziva's POV**

_What is wrong with me? _was the only thought jogging through my head as I made my way down to see Abby. I never usually let disapproval affect me in this way and I could not even be sure that the disapproval was aimed at me, although it did seem that way.

Shaking my head slightly I decided that I did not need to keep thinking over it and that I should focus all of my attention on the case. The note that I had found looked very much like it was a key piece of evidence and if Abby could find some fingerprints on it I knew that the case would be over nice and quickly, hopefully without any complications. Entering Abby's lab I could hear the familiar sound of loud music and for some reason that calmed me. I could also see a lot of objects on the floor which could only mean she was testing something out again. Being careful not to disturb anything I cautiously made my way into the lab.

"Abby?" I called, hoping she would hear me and guide me a safe route past everything. Appearing only in the way Abby could she swung round the corner with a pole in her hand, uncovering her eyes as she moved.

"Ziva!" she said as she hugged me, "I was just trying to see how people walk round things when they're blind. Don't you think it's really cool how they manage to move past all of the different things in their way? I do..." she started to say.

Patiently I waited for her to finish, I did not want to go back up to see Gibbs any sooner than I had to, especially if he was still annoyed with me.

"Anyway. Do you have something for me? Is it goo?" I could not help but let out a little chuckle at that.

"No Abby it is not. Gibbs would like you to see if there is any fingerprints on this note."

"Sure. I'll start that right away," she said as she took the note off of me and read it to herself, "Sounds a lot like an ultimatum to me," she said.

"We think that the killer may have written it."

"Could've done. It looks like there is a partial print on this corner here and two prints at the top. Though they could be the victims."

"Thanks Abby, do we know her name yet?" having come straight here from the car I still had no idea who our victim was.

"Yup, she is Petty Officer Mary Seaford," came the distinct voice of my partner from the other side of the objects on the floor. _Great_ I thought _just what I need right now. Tony here to ask me more questions. _I could still hear his muttering as he made his way past everything- swearing every now and again when he knocked something over. It appeared he still had not learnt how to move around without destroying something.

"Hey Abs. What are you doing exactly?" he asked her, looking a little annoyed about the route he had had to take in order to make it to us.

"Hey Tony! I'm trying to see if I can get from one end of the lab to the other round all of this stuff without touching it. But I'm doing it blindfolded. Don't you think it's really cool how they can move with just a stick to guide them?"

She was starting again. Before she got too into what she was saying to forget about the case Tony prompted her back in the right direction.

"I've never really thought about it Abby. But yeah, I guess it is," he said before turning to me, "you coming back Zee-Vah or were you planning on staying down here all day?"

"Of course I am coming Tony. I was just finishing my conversation with Abby." He really knew how to annoy me sometimes.

"Have you given her the note?" he asked me next, as if for some reason I wouldn't have done so.

Abby answered for me, "of course she has Tony. It sounds like the killer doesn't care about not being found and I'm going to see if I can run any prints off of it now OK?"

"No problem Abby, I presume you'll tell us the moment you've found something." I snorted at this. Of course she would, or Gibbs' gut would tell him and we'd end up down here anyway.

"Don't I always Tony?"

At this point I turned to leave. Tony and Abby could carry on with their conversation all day if they wanted to but I had work to do. McGee probably wanted help with researching our victim and Gibbs would want something when he asked for it after all. Making my way past the objects scattered around the lab was harder this time as Tony had disturbed them all which meant that it took me longer to make it to the door. By the time I was there Tony himself had caught up with me as he no longer cared about making a mess and just pushed them aside. He also sounded slightly out of breath, indicating he was moving faster than I had.

"You could've waited," was the only thing that he said to me as we boarded the elevator together. We stood slightly apart and I fixed my gaze on the doors, fully intent on not engaging in any unnecessary conversation. I could feel Tony's eyes on me as we waited to get back to the bullpen but I was strong and managed to avoid looking at him. _1 point to Ziva_ I thought.

We maintained the silence for the whole elevator ride and it was only as I sat back down at my desk that I risked a glance at Tony. It was then that I knew I shouldn't have as he was looking at me with a peculiar look in his eyes and, being the person I am, I really wanted to know what that look meant- meaning I had to break my silence.

"Have I got something wrong with me Tony?" I asked him.

"No. What do you mean something wrong with you?" The confused look that was displayed on his face showed he had no idea what I was talking about.

"You are looking at me like there is something wrong. Have I food on my face, or is there something on my clothes?" I was persistent.

"There is nothing wrong with you. Your hair is perfect, there is nothing on your face and I don't see anything wrong with your clothes apart from... umm… I thought I saw something… it looks like I was wrong though," he corrected himself and trailed off. I was very confused at this moment in time and I was about to question his further when Gibbs walked in and asked for some information on Mary Seaford and her associates. As I turned to my computer screen there was still one question making its way round my head that I really wanted the answer to.

_What on earth was he going to say?_


	7. Bullpen chatter

**I'm trying to make my updates more frequent I promise. You should know by now that I don't own the characters and am just borrowing them. Enjoy.**

**Bullpen Banter**

**Tony's PoV**

_Phew, that was close_ I thought as I heaved a huge sigh of relief. Since when did I come that close to admitting my feelings like that! Thankfully I had caught myself and managed an okay-ish save though I knew Ziva hadn't believed me even for a minute. As long as I was careful for the rest of the day I should be able to get away with it. Or I could hope for the case to get more and more complicated as I knew that Ziva would throw herself into it with gusto, therefore not bringing up the topic again. Sitting down at my desk I began to do some research into Mary Seaford's family, I knew that McGee would be looking at bank and phone records while Ziva would probably start researching into what the Petty Officer was working on. We decided to split the jobs up like this a long time ago so that we would be able to have the start of a profile by the time Gibbs walked in and we had to report to him.

The sounds of typing soon died down as we finished finding everything that was easy to find and set up searches for any other information that we may have missed. Going by the looks on the others faces it didn't look like they had found anything that relevant to the case. To be honest, I hadn't found anything too relevant either despite their being some slightly depressing information in Seaford's file. I was just opening my mouth to start a conversation while we waited for Gibbs as Ziva's phone rang. She had been on it most of the morning trying to get some background information regarding Seaford's naval career but it didn't sound like she was having much luck.

Sure enough this phone call went much the same way the others did with Ziva ending it by slamming the phone down and swearing at it in typical Ziva fashion.

"Being stonewalled Zee-Vah?"I asked her, keeping my tone level. There was no way I was slipping up again.

"No one is giving me anything!" She said, exasperated.

McGee looked at her sympathetically, "Don't worry Ziva, I haven't found anything either."

"It is not that I have not found anything McGee! It is that I am unable to access it," Ziva felt the need to point out, "I have found a court case linked to the Petty Officer but I cannot see any information about it at all! I have phoned everybody I can think of including her previous CO from two years ago. The only people I did not phone were the family because I thought Tony would have done that."

"You thought right," I told her, "but I didn't know anything about a court case."

"That is alright. It does not look as if many people knew about it anyway. I will just have to wait for her current CO to email me back; he said it would take a couple of days though."

"Gibbs isn't going to like that," I said while McGee wore a face that said much the same.

"I am well aware of this Tony."

"Oh. Well I just thought I'd remind you. So has anybody got anything relating to the case?" I felt the need to ask. McGee and Ziva both shook their heads at that one. I could feel the beginnings of a smile slip on to my face.

"Don't tell us Tony, you do." McGee said.

"I have more than either of you two do. A possible reason for her joining the navy."

"Are you going to tell us what or do we just have to read your mind," Ziva muttered obviously getting irritated.

"Oh don't worry Zee-Vah,I intend to tell you."

"Well we do not have all year Tony. We have a murderer to catch."

"I had noticed Ziva and the phrase is all day not all year. Our Petty Officer had a younger sister who was killed in a hit and run 3 months prior to Seaford joining up," I finally relented. The smile on my face getting bigger.

"And you think that is something to be happy about Tony? You are so insensitive. You have no idea what it is like to lose a sister!" Ziva's tone was getting louder by the second. _Way to put your foot in it DiNozzo _I thought.

"I wasn't smiling at that Ziva. It's a horrible thing to happen."

"Then what were you smiling about. I know you. You were probably imagining how good looking she would be if she was still alive aren't you?"

"NO Ziva. I am not. Just let me explain!" I said, getting annoyed as well.

"Explain what DiNozzo?" Gibbs said walking into the bullpen and heading into the middle beside the screen.

"Err, what we have not found regarding Petty Officer Mary Seaford," I said as we all followed him over like well-trained dogs.

"I would prefer to hear what you have got." I sighed and handed McGee the remote, figuring it was probably safer than handing it to Ziva who looked like she wanted to take my arm off and beat me to death with the soggy end.

Completely ignoring what was going on McGee got started, "Looks like she received several phone calls and texts from people all the time. There were four numbers that appear a lot though; one I traced back to her mother who she called every Sunday afternoon, the other three appear to be from untraceable prepaid cells though I'm looking to see if I can tell where they were purchased from," McGee finished on the phone records before clicking the remote to bring up the victims bank records, "Normal bank statements boss. Apart from the apparent trouble with saving, though who isn't low on cash in today's economy, there's nothing out of the ordinary in them."

This was my cue to take the remote out of McGee's hand and start talking about Seaford's family, not that I had much to say on them. "She grew up in Chicago before moving here. Her parents, Natalie and Darien, still live there along with her youngest brother, Andrew. She was the oldest of three with her sister, Katrina, dying in a hit and run when Mary was 16- her sister was only 12. Joined the Navy pretty soon after and has been there ever since."

"This hit and run," Gibbs said, "Anymore information on it?"

"It was a drunk driver that hit Katrina as she was crossing the road after school one day. She was with a group of friends, one's paralysed from the waist down and the others have all recovered. Katrina was the only fatality. The driver died in prison a couple of months later from liver disease."

"Make a note of names and addresses, we may need to pay them a visit," Gibbs told me.

Before I could answer Ziva jumped in, "her service record is clean Gibbs. Joined straight out of high school and has worked in the same unit ever since. She works on the paper trail, keeping track of anything that is sent to American troops. How much, who received it, what it is that sort of thing. As a result she has been out of the country a lot to find missing goods."

"Any possible link to them and our murder?" Gibbs asked the million dollar question.

"There is evidence of a court case," Ziva told him, "Unfortunately I have been unable to find out any information on it yet and I cannot get any until 2 days time."

Gibbs sighed and appeared to be thinking. "Keep working on it Ziver, McGee I want to know where those phones came from. Tony you're with me." His tone of voice changed completely as he turned to me and this worried me a little. I did as I was told and dutifully followed him with one thought occupying my head.

_What on earth had I done to warrant this tone of voice?_


	8. Gibbs' Office

**Gibb's Office**

**Tony's PoV**

Following Gibbs as he stalked towards the elevator was not something that I particularly wanted to do with him in this mood but I had no choice. The look on his face told me everything I needed to know about his current mood and the way he had spoken to me suggested that the elevator was about to be used as a conference room again. To be completely honest I'm not even sure why we even had a conference room when the elevator worked just fine and Gibbs seemed to prefer it anyway. This elevator definitely got used more than what was expected when it was installed and one day soon I was sure it would just give up and refuse to work anymore.

A loud clanging made me emerge from the mindless rambling my mind had started as I realised that we had made it to the elevator and that the clanging was Gibbs whacking the button as hard as he could. _Yup, definitely not in a good mood_ I thought as the elevator arrived and I followed him inside, making sure to stand as far away as was possible in such a small space. True to his nature we made it all of two feet down before Gibbs flicked the emergency switch with such force that I was sure it was about to fly off making me stuck in an elevator with and angry Gibbs.

Thankfully the switch stayed where it was meant to be preventing me from being stuck but as Gibbs turned to me, I half-wished it had flown off due to the ferocity of the glare I was getting. If it wasn't for the fact that I had grown semi-accustomed to Gibbs' glares I would have been a quivering wreck on the floor, as it was I gulped and attempted to take a step back to try and increase the distance between us. _Note to self: backing away when in a confined space does not work when already at the edge of said space. _This did not work and I realised two things; 1) I was well and truly cornered and 2) I finally knew why Gibbs held his meetings in here- there was nowhere for the victim to run.

"DiNozzo," he growled while fixing those steely eyes on me, demanding an answer.

Gulping again I just about managed a coherent answer, "Yes boss." Thankfully he understood what I meant.

"Would you care to tell me what exactly is going on,"

This had me confused as I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Well, I did have an inkling but I really hoped that this wasn't the case as I would be seriously screwed if he had found out. Judging by the expression on his face however, it wasn't as serious as Gibbs simply finding out what I had asked McGee to do as I had a feeling I would already have been head slapped to my grave if that was the case. Thinking before I opened my mouth I decided to go with the good old, "I'm not sure what you're talking about boss."

"Don't play that with me DiNozzo I thought I taught you better than that. I'm telling you to inform me exactly what is going on between you and Agent David."

Oops, maybe he had found out. Just in case I still went with denying everything, "Nothing's going on boss. We're both fine."

"I thought I told you not to play that game with me," Gibbs almost spat at me.

"Seriously boss. I have no idea what you're talking about," _please believe me, please believe me, please believe me. _I set up a silent mantra in my head.

"I'm on about the way you two have been acting. It is clear that there is something going on between you two."

"What exactly do you mean by something going on boss?" I asked him, hoping against hope that it wasn't anything romantic related otherwise I may as well shoot myself now. _Wait! Did Gibbs bring his gun in here? If he did I'm screwed. And there was so much I still wanted to do,_ was the sudden thought I had.

"DiNozzo stop it!" he followed this statement with a headslap. _1 slap down about 50 to go _I thought.

"Boss, I'm being completely serious here. I **do not **know what you are talking about," I told him hoping that he would believe I was being sincere otherwise he would not be the only one who was angry.

"Like hell you don't DiNozzo. What was all that about at the crime scene eh? You and I both know that that was not nothing!" Gibbs was getting seriously angry now.

"Oh you mean me and Ziva boss? That was a complete accident, it was nothing," I told him having realised exactly what he was on about.

"Once maybe, but twice? That's one hell of a coincidence DiNozzo and you and I both know what I think about them." _Shit!_

"I swear it was nothing boss. We were mucking around a little yes but no more than normal."

"I know you two 'muck around' DiNozzo but this was definitely not your normal standards and I can see it's interfering with your work." _Wait. Back up a minute._

"It's interfering with my work? What is?" I asked seriously confused now.

"Your relationship with Agent David. I was hoping I was wrong but after your tomfoolery at the scene today I am not so sure. How long?" I was getting more confused by the second.

"How long for what boss?"

"How long have you and David been breaking my rules and when exactly were you planning on telling me?" _Aah so he thinks we're going out. _

"We're not together boss. I swear!" the look he was giving me told me he definitely didn't buy it, "Look you can go ask her and she'll probably laugh at the mere thought. Or if you want ask Abby? I know she can't lie to you and she knows just about everything that's going on round here." I tried, desperate for him to believe me.

"If that's the case what is going on between you?"

"Absolutely nothing boss, we're just friends."

"Not what I meant DiNozzo," he growled at me showing that nothing good was about to happen to me if I didn't tell him the truth, "Why are you two avoiding each other?"

"I wasn't aware that we were boss." I told him, thinking that that would explain a lot in terms of Ziva's behaviour recently. "I mean we can talk more than we do but today there was nothing abnormal, in fact I would say we were definitely acting like our normal juvenile selves today."

"I don't think so DiNozzo. Not if what you say is true."

"Why would I lie to you boss?"

"Hmmph," Gibbs snorted. "Now you listen to me Tony, you listen good and proper. I don't know or care why you and David are avoiding each other but I do care about your performance and the team's performance. We have a murderer to catch so I could do without the distractions. Now get your butt out of this elevator and go and fix it!" He finished while flicking the emergency stop switch again.

When the doors opened I could see several pairs of eyes staring at us, all apart from Ziva's making me think that maybe Gibbs had been on to something. As he stalked out without so much as a backward glance I answered him under my breath, "On it boss."

_Now all I have to do is figure out how._


	9. In the bathroom

**In the bathroom**

**Ziva's PoV**

Walking back to my desk to carry on researching this elusive court case I couldn't help but wonder what it was that Tony had done to make Gibbs angry with him apart from being as insensitive as he normally is. As far as I was aware he had not done anything out of the ordinary so far today, yes he was acting a little stranger than normal but everyone has bad days.

Sighing I turned all of my efforts to finding out the details of the court case and started ringing up anyone who could help me. As I did so I could hear raised voices coming from the elevator but I did not pay much attention to them as I did not want to make it obvious that I was listening in. It seemed as though everyone else in the squad room had no such worries however, as they had all stopped what they were doing to try and listen in. While they were attempting that I hung up my phone as yet again I had got no answer from who I was phoning and turned my attention to where McGee was supposedly tracking the phone numbers we had found- in reality he was staring at the elevator where Gibbs and DiNozzo had gone with a worried look on his face. That was a little bit confusing as it seemed as if he knew what was going on and why Gibbs was in such a bad mood with Tony. I did not want to ask him however as he may get suspicious as to why I was asking after Tony so I stared at my computer screen while wondering where to go next.

Several minutes later I heard the elevator doors open and Gibbs stormed out. As he walked past me on his way to his desk he gave me an odd look which I wasn't expecting. Before I could think too much of it Tony also came out of the elevator with the look of someone who has just been asked to do the impossible. Trying not to be noticed he came back to his desk without once looking up from the floor. He gave McGee and Gibbs a quick glance when he sat down but he was completely avoiding all eye contact with me which was unusual.

About 2 minutes after Tony had sat down Gibbs stood up and walked out of the bullpen, still in a bad mood. "I'm going for coffee," he said while giving Tony a significant look.

This look was not unnoticed by McGee either and as soon as Gibbs had left he started questioning Tony, "what was all that about then Tony?"

"Don't you worry Tim, just a little misunderstanding that I have to sort out," Tony answered without moving.

"If you say so."

"I do say so."

Leaving them to it I decided that this would be a prime opportunity for me to head to the bathroom while Gibbs was out so it didn't look like I was skipping out of work. Walking down to it I realised something that I had not done earlier- Tony called McGee Tim. This day was getting weirder and weirder and there was definitely something wrong with Tony if he was using McGee's first name. Deciding that I would have to ask him later I sent the thought to the back of my mind so that I could focus on the case before the murderer got away or killed again.

As I finished washing my hands I realised that the bathroom suddenly got quieter and checking the reflection in the mirror I noticed Tony clearing all of the cubicles before he turned to lock the main door. _Okay so I will not be talking to him later _I thought before turning round and starting what must have been at least our 10th bathroom meeting.

"You are aware that this is the women's room yes Tony?" I asked him, determined to keep things light-hearted.

"Yup, though the amount of times you've been in the men's I could easily think that this is the men's room." It appeared that he was not taking the same approach as me.

"I could say the same about the women's room. This definitely is not your first time in here."

"True, and I doubt it'll be my last."

"So what is the meaning for your visit this time? And I would prefer it if you did not start it with a film quote." There was no way I was letting him treat the whole thing like one of his movies. He came in here; therefore he obviously wanted a serious conversation.

"Damn, there goes my plan," he said, smirking at me.

"What do you want Tony? What is the problem?" I asked him. I did not want to spend longer than I needed to with him.

"That is."

"Sorry?" I had no idea what he meant by that.

"What have I done to you Ziva? I can barely have a conversation with you anymore."

"We are talking now, are we not?"

"We are, but I can tell that I am making you uncomfortable and all you want to do is leave. Why Ziva? Why can't I hold a conversation with you anymore?"

"You can have a conversation with me Tony. Nothing has happened," _apart from the fact that I am trying not to throw myself at you in an attempt to get you to notice me_ I added in my head.

"It doesn't seem like nothing to me Ziva. Nor does it to Gibbs," he was getting angry now.

"What do you mean by that? Is that the reason he was angry with you?"

"Apparently so. Do you know he thought we were in a relationship? He was about to have a full on go at me for breaking one of his rules. You're lucky I managed to change his mind before he could come after you." Gibbs really thought that I was his girlfriend? That was something that I had not even considered. Maybe something that I had wished now and then but not something that was actually an option or something that could happen.

Still not 100% sure about what Tony was talking about I let the subject drop and tried to leave, telling him that I had to get back to the case. Unsurprisingly I did not get far before Tony grabbed hold of my arm to make me stay.

"This is exactly what I am talking about Ziva! What have I done? I've been searching my head for an answer for a couple of days now but I can't find one." Maybe turning to leave was not the best idea. Relaxing slightly I turned back to him so that we could finish this conversation.

"You have not done anything Tony," I told him softly so as to not anger him more.

Looking at me his eyes softened though I was not sure why, "What's wrong Ziva?"

"What do you mean what is wrong? I am fine." I said, immediately going on the defensive.

Unfortunately it seemed as though Tony realised this as he lifted his hand to push a strand of hair behind my ear, "You do know you can talk to me right Ziva?" he said, mimicking my soft tone.

"I know Tony," I gave him a slight smile, "but this is not something you could help me with. It'll go away soon," _Please do not ask me what is wrong again._

Thankfully Tony did not push it, "Alright then Ziva," he smiled again, "But if it isn't sorted in a week there'll be more of these meetings."

That made me crack a smile but obviously not as big a smile as Tony had hoped it would because he drew me in to a brief hug before walking out of the room. I stood there for a moment longer to not re-compose myself before I followed him, still with a small smile on my face. I hurried back to the squad-room and told myself to not try to avoid Tony as it did not work anyway.

_Now to find that murderer._


	10. Making headway

**Okay I am really, really sorry for making you guys wait so long for me to update. I don't really have an excuse but I have had a lot of work to do. Also, I am not someone who uses reviews as bribes in order to try and get more although if people do review I am likely to update faster. That being said, thankyou to everyone who has reviewed and I promise to update faster next time! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Disclaimed.**

**Tony's PoV**

_Well that didn't go too badly _I thought to myself as I sat back down at my desk. Having been given no specific task I set up a search to run for any details regarding the others involved in the accident that Katrina was killed in and leant back to think about what had just happened. Hopefully there would be no ramifications and the only consequence of our talk would be a change in Ziva's behaviour back towards normal.

As I sat there wondering over her behaviour and what it was that was bothering her (it was easy to read her eyes even when her mouth said something different) Gibbs came back from his coffee run and headed straight for Abby's lab. When this happened it tended to mean that she had something and when he looked back at us and told us to hurry up it pretty much confirmed this was the case. Thinking it was probably a match on the prints me and Ziva hurried after the boss while McGee awaited the email from Abby with the search result so that he could make a start on profiling the owner.

Sure enough, when we entered Abby's lab there were the results of the scan on the screen but Abby being Abby meant that she didn't come straight out and tell us them. In fact, at the moment she was staring at Ziva with a look that I couldn't place on her face. It appeared that Ziva understood it perfectly however, as she shuffled her feet a bit before asking Abby who the fingerprints belonged to as an attempt to shift the attention off of her.

"We'll get to them in a minute Ziva; I have other things to show you first. And don't think you're getting out of answering my question," At this Ziva started looking everywhere but me, Abby and Gibbs and I was really confused.

"Hey, I'm a little confused over here. What question?" I asked them.

"Nothing important," Abby said and added something under her breath that sounded something like "But when I get the answer I'll tell you."

I opened my mouth to reply but before I could Gibbs interrupted, "What've you got Abs?"

"Evidence Gibbs, and a suspect," Abby said, obviously excited, "Look at the clothes she was wearing; I was able to pull a couple of hairs that weren't hers off of them. She had also recently had sex but there was nothing I could match," she finished, turning towards her computer as she did so. We all followed her as she brought up the results.

"Looks like the hair belongs to James Taylor whose fingerprints also match those on the note. Looks like a nice and easy case Gibbs," she said with a smile on her face. I also began to smile as it looked as though this was going to be a relatively easy case which we all liked as it didn't mean too many long nights. Hopefully McGee would have the address by the time we got back upstairs and me and Ziva could go pick him up, get him to confess and everything we could finish all the paperwork by midday tomorrow.

With that thought in mind I turned around and made my way back up to the bullpen where McGee would hopefully have an address and Ziva followed. It was quiet in the elevator and when we got back up Ziva and I branched off to our respective desks where we sat down for all of two minutes before Gibbs walked round the corner McGee started speaking.

"Boss, Taylor is in the same unit as Seaford was under her command. I've managed to track down his address but he wasn't answering his phone. His housemate said that he's out with a couple of mates down the local bar."

"Good work McGee. Tony, take Ziva and go check out the house, talk to the housemate, do whatever. Tim you're with me, we're paying this bar a visit."

We all grabbed our stuff and hurried off to the garage before Gibbs could accuse us of slacking. I pitied Tim for all of two seconds seeing as he was with Gibbs but then I remembered that Ziva was not in the best of moods and I could tell that this journey would not be the nicest or most comfortable ever. Mindful of her mood I was too busy thinking of a way to get the keys off of her so I could drive without ending up on the receiving end of one of her punches and didn't realise that she was dangling the keys in front of my nose.

"Are you going to take them or do you want me to drive?" she asked me. I quickly snatched them out of her hand before she could change her mind and got into the car.

"Are you coming Ziva? Or am I going alone?" I said, keeping my tone light hearted.

Sighing heavily, Ziva lowered herself into the passenger seat and stared straight ahead obviously reluctant to talk to me about anything. I decided to let her be for the moment and waited until we arrived at Taylor's house before breaching the elephant in the room.

Determined to try and keep things relatively light hearted I asked her, "Is it me or was that some serious silence all the way across town?"

If looks could kill the one she gave me would have had me hung, drawn and quartered within 10 seconds flat. Mercifully she chose not to kill me and turned around to open the door. Being the driver however, I was able to lock it which earned me another look but I did get an answer out of her.

"If you wanted to turn on the radio then you could have done so. I would not have minded Tony," she said.

"That's not what I meant and you know it Zee-vah," I responded, thinking that I should be alright to use that version of her name seeing as she hadn't killed me yet.

"I know Tony," she sighed, "but I have already told you that there is nothing you can do. This is something I have to solve myself," she finished but did not look me in her eyes. It appeared that she was well aware that I was able to read hers far too well.

"Well why won't you look me in the eyes when you say that?" I asked.

She sighed again before turning to me, "I will rephrase myself then Tony. You are unable to help me solve this apart from in one way and I am fairly sure that you would be unable to do so. Therefore, it is something that I need to sort out myself."

"Why don't you give me a try?" I asked, well aware that this problem would not just go away like that if looking in her eyes was giving me much of a clue to how much it was affecting her. If only I could get her to tell me what it was.

"I would rather not," she retorted, rather sharply.

"Okay," I conceded, knowing that it was in my best interest to do so, "But if you do want to talk then you know I am always ready to listen."

"I know Tony," she said and then turned to get out of the car muttering something under her breath that I didn't catch but knew it was related to what had made her so upset.

Sighing I climbed out of the car and followed her up the steps to the door of Taylor's house ready to see if we could find anything out about our main suspect. We were back in our work frame of mind and I knew it would take a while for Ziva to open up again. Waiting for a response to our knock on the door I vowed to do one thing for her though and there would be no stopping until I had done it.

_I must get to the bottom of her problem._


End file.
